Angst and network news go together like—oh, like Simon and Garfunkel, whose popularity peaked around the same time that Walter Cron-kite was signing off with the comforting fiction “that’s the way it is.” For more than a quarter of a century, the audience for the three evening network newscasts has been both shrinking and aging, […]
Angst and network news go together like—oh, like Simon and Garfunkel, whose popularity peaked around the same time that Walter Cron-kite was signing off with the comforting fiction “that’s the way it is.” For more than a quarter of a century, the audience for the three evening network newscasts has been both shrinking and aging, […]
Ace, it’s not an emergency or anything, but I’m curious about this community phone system that can alert the community to crisis by calling everyone in an imperiled area. Who gets to use it and for what? Earthquakes? UFOs? A GOP invasion?—Chatty Cathy Cathy, Cathy, Cathy, talking dogs are more likely to take over our […]
A recent online survey showed that more than one-third of us think that once we die, we end up in some kind of merit-based afterlife, like Heaven or Hell. Another 29 percent figure we go nowhere—we’re just dead. Well, yes and no. No matter where you think you’ll end up in the long run, you’re […]
Hey Ace: I just noticed that the crosswalks from the Emmet/Ivy intersection all the way to Jefferson Park Avenue are green and white instead of the customary black and white zebra crossing. I love the white/lime green combo—it really goes well with my wardrobe—but why the new style?—J. Crewe Oh dahling, didn’t you know? Save […]
“Freedom of expression cannot be limited without being lost.” Thomas Jefferson Robert O’Neil takes TJ’s words very seriously. As executive director of the Pantops-based Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression, each year he oversees the awarding of Jefferson Muzzles. The search for censorship in America brings a wide swath of culture within […]
Dear Ace: I am very, very busy with many phone calls to make and errands to run. So many, in fact, that I have to eat and get ready in the car and sometimes I wind up running red lights. I’ve heard horror stories about how, in some cities, the cops have cameras attached to […]
Our leaders love to trumpet Charlottesville’s progressive spirit and the world-class quality of its city life. The sales pitch rings hollow in Westhaven, though, where ambitious plans for “urban renewal” have literally fallen apart. Now the Housing Authority hopes to overcome 20 years of neglect with a new version of urban renewal. But can yuppies […]
Dear Ace: Can hot air balloons land anywhere they please? We had one land on our field last Friday and it scared my dairy goats silly! When I arrived to see what was going on and ask if they had bothered to get permission, they said, “Oh yes, we have permission.” Well, I don’t know […]
It was past 11pm on Thursday, March 3, and after four hours of deliberation the Charlottesville City School Board remained divided over how to balance the 2005-06 budget due the next day to City Council. Six of the board’s seven appointees were present, along with Dr. Scottie Griffin, the division’s superintendent. The sour atmosphere in […]
Dear Ace: Whatever happened to those yellow bikes that were set up around town for anyone and everyone to use when in need of a little free transportation?—Schwinn Dixie Ah, Schwinn, Ace remembers fondly that age of innocence when the sweet, idealistic liberals of Charlottesville still believed that the concept of community bikes might help […]